2015 WHEAT COMPETITION, SUPPORTED BY ATS

Thursday, 22 Jan, 2015

ATS Seed is proud to support the 2015 United Wheat Growers competition for a fifth consecutive year, and in a bid to raise the profile nationally, this year it’s pushing to attract more entries from wheat growers nationwide.

Started in February 2011 the objective of the competition is to celebrate success in the New Zealand wheat industry, encouraging growers and grain industry members to enter samples of wheat they feel has performed well on-farm from the 2015 harvest.

“ATS Seed is proud to sponsor the competition as we see it as a good opportunity to highlight the success of wheat growers, and to give them the opportunity to showcase their crops and to expose new varieties that are coming through,” says ATS Seed General Manager Tim Dale.

“Wheat growing is still a cornerstone crop for most arable growers and they take a lot of pride and satisfaction when they achieve good grain yields and high quality levels from the testing process.”

United Wheat Growers Director Brian Leadley says the judging process takes into account of several factors.

“There’s a number of quality tests they do,” he says. “When we grow our wheat there’s a number of criteria in our contracts, such as grain moisture, grain weight, grain size, and if it’s a milling class, then protein levels are very important for bread making. Passing these quality standards are important to try and exceed the minimum standards and achieve a good price for your end product.

“The judges will look at the physical appearance of the wheat too; for example a crop that has not been harvested when it was ready can lose some of its colour and quality which may limit the end use of the wheat.”

The five award categories again this year are: biscuit wheat, feed protein, feed wheat, milling/gristing wheat and premium milling wheat.

Last year’s competition saw 90 entries entered into the five categories from mainly Canterbury, with the aim in 2015 to foster competition among wheat growers nationally and establish benchmarks for best practices. The 2015 competition is open to crops harvested in 2015, with entries closing May 31 2015. Juding will take place after the close of entries on May 31. Prize giving in June or July 2015.

If you have any questions or need clarification about the competition please contact Tim Dale, ATS Seed General Manager, on 027 272 9580 or tim.dale@ats.co.nz or Brian Leadley, Director United Wheat Growers, on 027 450 5305 or brian.rachel@xtra.co.nz. ATS Seed and the United Wheat Growers look forward to your support of the 2015 UWG wheat competition.

December 2014 Newsletter

Levy vote

UWG has again held another successful Compulsory Levy vote and our cooperative disaster relief insurance scheme will continue for another 6 years in its present form.

The Levy for the 2014/15 harvest

The levy remains $4.35+gst per tonne . This is now unchanged for 4 years.

Payout for the 2014/15 harvest

Growers will receive a pay out of $225+gst per tonne on a claim. This is not full cover, but disaster relief to meet the cost of production. Growers can additionally top up the premium with their farm insurers.

A Reminder of how the scheme works.

The premium is paid in arrears on the tonnage delivered, regardless of whether this is to a flourmill or any other end user. The levy is deducted from the payment and sent on to UWG. This is a compulsory legal requirement, endorsed by the recently held grower election.

UWG has no problem with farmer to farmer trading, providing the levy is paid. The situation is the same if the wheat is not sold, but used within the same operation. In this case the grower is responsible for sending the payment to UWG.

Levy payment forms are available from the UWG office, Brown Glassford. The contact is Erin Coakley. You can contact Erin at erin.coakley@brownglass.co.nz

If you have a disaster

If a grower is unfortunate enough to have a disaster they should first telephone FMG, our insurers to register their claim, on 0800 366 466. FMG will then appoint an assessor, this person will be a local grower, possibly a director or an Electoral Committee member. The assessor will make an initial appointment to visit your crop, then subsequent visits if necessary to determine the loss.

When there is a serious event finding enough assessors can be a problem, so growers may have to wait for an inspection.

We are always looking for more volunteers at these times.

The directors wish growers an enjoyable festive season, and good luck for a safe successful harvest.

2014 Wheat Insurance Commodity Levy Referendum

Wednesday, 2 Apr, 2014

WHEAT COMPETITION 2014

Thursday, 10 Apr, 2014

Brian Leadley currently organising the annual United Wheatgrowers Wheat Competition for the 2014 year with the ongong support of ATS. Prize giving will take place in July 2014 with details to follow. Judging will take place in the Autumn for milling, feed and biscuit classes, with each category having a 1st, 2nd and 3rd placing. Entry forms can be downloaded from the link below.

All crops harvested in 2014 are eligible and growers are encouraged to start gathering (245K) samples for the competition now. All entries must be received by 31st May 2014. One entry per class per farm, with each entry being tested on the visual and tested quality for the particular end use of the wheat. The judge's decison will be final.

2014 Wheat Insurance Commodity Levy Referendum

Tuesday, 25 Mar, 2014

Due to administrative issues the United Wheatgrowers Board have decided to cancel this current levy vote and replace it with another voting period that will start on April 25 and close on May 21. New voting packs will be posted out to all growers and these will include new access codes for voting. All votes that have been cast will be deleted and all existing voting material will be securely destroyed. The United Wheatgrowers Board apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.

James Sim, Chair United Wheatgrowers

WHEAT COMPETITION 2013

Tuesday, 21 Feb, 2012

Brian Leadley is once again organising the annual United Wheatgrowers Wheat Competition for 2013 with the support of ATS. Prize giving will take place at the annual Federated Farmers Grains Conference scheduled for 2nd & 3rd July 2013. Judging will take place in the Autumn for milling, feed and biscuit classes, with each category having a 1st, 2nd and 3rd placing. Entry forms can be downloaded from the link below.

All crops harvested in 2013 are eligible and growers are encouraged to start gathering samples for the competition now. All entries must be received by 20th May 2013 for judging to take place in autumn with results announced at the UWG AGM. One entry per class per farm, with each entry being tested on the visual and tested quality for the particular end use of the wheat.

November Electoral Committee Meeting 2013

Friday, 8 Mar, 2013

The annual November Electoral Committee meeting was held on Friday 30th November 2012 at the Comfort Hotel Benvenue in Timaru. James Sim was re-appointed as director after standing unopposed. After the compliance part of the meeting, directors and Electoral Committee members visited the Seedlands' construction site of their new farmer-owned flour mill currently being built (47 Meadows Road, Washdyke). As previously reported in the Farmers Weekly in May last year, the “Farmers Mill” project is being driven by a consortium of 12 South Canterbury farmers and will complement Seedlands Grainstor Ltd grain storage facility which is owned by the same producers. The General Manager and Chairman met with members and reported on their progress and future strategies.